Look of Pain

Chorus: [x4] That's the look of pain You never want to see When a ghetto youth finds out His dreams my never be Verse One: I've seen crack sales in broad daylight on park benches Old folks watch it from the windows in they kitchens Convinced the police don't care and won't listen Hopin' that they got some under covers takin' pictures They ain't tryin' to be the ones that gotta save the system For every five thugs, maybe one will go to prison The other four are left to intimidate the witness Go to trial against them and you might come up missin' Lookin' at the odds it's a no brain decision Unless you wanna jeopardize your family and children And so they keep their eyes closed, continue feedin' kittens And open up their blinds again, when the sale is finished They hope that dope don't invade their fam But how would you cope if your moms was smokin' grams? See that's what I be thinkin' when I bump into my man Gave him a bear hug and shook his cold hand Asked about the future, if he had a plan Aside from the hustlin' and corner store scams He said, "Life is hard", I said, "I understand" The weight of his home life was more than he could stand The oldest of four seeds, he's only fifteen But everybody lookin' towards him to make the cream He said, enroll in college might help him to change things Managin' a smile while he spoke so painfully Then he started to choke up As if he woke up And realized that whatever he made his mom would smoke up Chorus Verse Two: It's hard to stay optimistic as a ghetto youth When you can't anticipate the days ahead of you It's like, dope fiend next to you Gangs keep stressin' you Pharmacists operate the block makin' revenue They never get caught cause they know the cops schedules And every time you come home it's like your mom questions you She don't wanna see you on the street corner gettin' loot You told her that was something you would never do You concentrate on school Your grades exceptional You visualize yourself as a black professional Plus your girlfriend is in the same class as you But it's drama when you walk her home after school These knuckleheads on the block they be harassin' you You say, "Chill" That you just passin' through You used to be cool with 'em but now they actin' new You crack jokes but they gettin' more mad at you Now they puttin' up their dukes so they can scrap with you And when it's over You leave 'em ALL black and blue Now they talkin' about blastin' you Now they got guns chasin' after you You didn't think that they would pull it But now you find yourself runnin' from the sound of stray bullets You get closer to the crib and start smilin' Felt somethin' in your back it was a bullet in a spinal column Now you startin' to bleed You blackin' out, it's gettin' harder to see Chorus